In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Almighty, eternal God, Who, to provide mankind an example of humility for it to imitate, willed that the Savior should assume our flesh and suffer death upon the Cross, mercifully grant that we may be found worthy of the lesson of His endurance and the fellowship of His resurrection. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Ps 21:20, 22.
O Lord, be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me. Save me from the lion’s mouth; form the horns of the wild bulls, my wretched life.
Ps 21:2
My God, my God, look upon me, why have You forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.
O Lord, be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me. Save me from the lion’s mouth; form the horns of the wild bulls, my wretched life.
A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Phillipians
Phil 2:5 - 11.
Brethren: Have this in mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was by nature God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be clung to, but emptied Himself, taking the nature of a slave and being made like unto men. And appearing in the form of man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even to death on a cross. Therefore God also has exalted Him and has bestowed upon Him the Name that is above every name, Kneel so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.
Thanks be to God
Ps 72:24, 1 - 3.
You have hold of my right hand; with Your counsel You guide me; and in the end You will receive me in glory.
How good God is to Israel, to those who are clean of heart! But, as for me, I almost lost my balance; my feet all but slipped, because I was envious of sinners when I saw them prosper though they were wicked.
Ps 21:2 - 9, 18 - 19, 22, 24, 32.
My God, my God, look upon me: why have You forsaken me?
Far from my salvation, are the words of my sins.
O my God, I cry out by day and You answer not; by night, and there is no relief.
But You are enthroned in the holy place, O glory of Israel!
In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.
To You they cried, and they escaped; in You they trusted, and they were not put to shame.
But I am a worm, not a man; the scorn of men, despised by the people.
All who see me, scoff at me; they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads.
He relied on the Lord; let Him deliver him, let Him rescue him, if He loves him.
But they look on and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.
Save me from the lion’s mouth; from the horns of the wild bulls, my wretched life.
You who fear the Lord, praise Him: all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to Him.
There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall show forth His justice.
To a people that shall be born, which the Lord has made.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew
Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani; and He said to His disciples: Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray. And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to grow sorrowful and to be sad. Then He saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death; stay you here and watch with Me. And going a little further, He fell upon His face, praying and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. And He cometh to His disciples, and findeth them asleep. And He saith to Peter: What! Could you not watch one hour with Me? Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again the second time, He went and prayed, saying: My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, Thy will be done. And He cometh again, and findeth them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, He went again and He prayed the third time, saying the self-same word. Then He cometh to His disciples, and saith to them: Sleep ye now and take your rest; behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go; behold, he is at hand that will betray Me.
Praise be to Thee, O Christ
From the Treatise of St Augustine, Bishop (of Hippo)
Upon the Psalms liv. 1.
Give ear to my prayer, O God, and despise not my supplication : attend unto me and hear me. These are the words of a man travailing, anxious, and troubled. He prayeth in the midst of much suffering, longing to be rid of his affliction. J Our part is to see what that his affliction was, and when he hath told us, to acknowledge that we also suffer therefrom; that so, partaking in his trouble, we may take part also in his exercise, and am troubled. Wherein mourned he? Wherein was he troubled? He saith : In my exericise. In the next words he giveth us to know that his affliction was the oppression of the wicked, ( Because of the voice of the enemy, and because of the oppression of the wicked,) and this suffering which came upon him at the hands of wicked men, he hath called his exercise. Think not that wicked men are in this world for nothing, or that God doth no good with them. Every wicked man liveth, either to repent, or to exercise the righteous.
Would to God that they which now exercise us were converted and exercised with us! Yet, while they are as they are, and exercise us, we will not hate them : for we know not of any one of them whether he will endure to the end in his sin. Yea, oftentimes, when thou deemest that thou hatest thine enemy, he whom thou hatest is thy brother, and thou knowest it not. The Holy Scriptures show us that the devil and his angels are already damned unto everlasting fire, and therefore of their repentance it behoveth us to despair; but of theirs only. These are they against whom we wrestle within; to the which wrestling the Apostle stirreth us up where he saith : We wrestle not against flesh and blood, (that is, not against men whom we see,) but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Eph. vi. 12. He saith not the rulers of this world, lest perchance thou shouldest deem that devils are the lords of heaven and earth; what he doth say is, rulers of the darkness of this world, of that world which they love who love the world, of that world wherein the ungodly and unrighteous do prosper, of that world, in fine, of which the Gospel saith : And the world knew Him not.
We have seen iniquity and strife in A the city. v. 10. Behold, the glory of the Cross. That Cross which was the object of the insults of God's enemies, is established now above the brows of kings. The end hath shown the measure of its power : it hath conquered the world, not by the sword, but by its wood. The enemies of God thought the Cross a meet object of insult and ridicule, yea, they stood before it, wagging their heads and saying : If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross! Matth. xxvii. 39, 40. And He stretched forth His Hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Rom. x. 21. If he is just which liveth by faith, Rom. i. 17; Hab. ii. 4, he is unjust that hath not faith. Therefore where is written iniquity we may understand unbelief. The Lord therefore saith that He saw iniquity and strife in the city, and that He stretched forth His Hands unto that disobedient and gainsaying people, and, disobedient and gainsaying as they were, He was hungry for their salvation, and said : Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Luke xxiii. 34.
From Holy Rosary by St. Josemaria Escriva – the Agony in the Garden
"Pray that you may not enter into temptation". —And Peter fell asleep. —And the other apostles. —And you, little friend, fell asleep..., and I too was another sleepyheaded Peter.
Jesus, alone and sad, suffers and soaks the earth with His blood.
Kneeling on the hard ground, He perseveres in prayer... He weeps for you... and for me: the weight of the sins of men overwhelms Him.
Pater, si vis, transfer calicem istum a me. —Father, if Thou wilt, remove this chalice from me... Yet not my will, sed tua fiat, but Thine be done (Luke 22:42).
An Angel from Heaven comforts Him. —Jesus is in agony. —He continues prolixius, praying more intensely... —He approaches us, who are asleep: Arise, pray —He says again—, lest you enter into temptation (Luke 22:46).
Judas the traitor: a kiss. —Peter's sword gleams in the night. —Jesus speaks: Are you come, as to a robber, to apprehend Me? (Mark 14:48)
We are cowards: we follow Him from afar, but awake and praying. —Prayer... Prayer...
Pray 5 decades of the Rosary meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries
